Castle Minerals has begun an electromagnetic survey across its Kambale graphite project in Ghana as the company looks to expand its search for additional graphite occurrences on its 149-square-kilometre site.
The operation has a mineral resource of 15.6 million tonnes at an impressive 9 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC) for 1.41 million tonnes of graphite. Growing those numbers could prove a timely boost for the company with the demand for graphite widely tipped to grow – some say “exponentially” – in the near future because of the burgeoning battery and electric vehicles industries.
Castle says any strong electromagnetic conductors discovered by its survey will be considered for immediate testing using the reverse-circulation drill rig that is now conducting an infill and extensional program at the site. Management says it has observed graphitic material in several termite mounds at the operation and now wants to build its own big nest … of graphite.
The company has completed 11 holes of its planned 4100m, 35-hole campaign, with assay results predicted for return in August. A 200-line-kilometre survey is expected to be completed next month.
Castle is fast-tracking Kambale to ensure that the Project is well positioned to take advantage of the forecast looming supply deficit for fine flake graphite concentrate used in the manufacture of electric vehicle and stationary power storage battery units. Castle Minerals managing director Stephen Stone
Upon completion of its drilling, Castle will upgrade its Kambale resource estimate and finish phase-two production testwork to assess the parameters of producing a commercial-grade fine-flake bulk graphite concentrate. The quality of the concentrate will be assessed at a specialist facility in Europe for its capability to produce high-value battery anode material.
The phase-two work is underway to test a 300kg sample of fresh, unweathered graphitic schist sourced from four diamond drill core holes, which were plunged into various representative areas of the deposit.
Castle conducted its phase-one testwork in September 2021 and reported that sub-optimal, near-surface weathered graphitic schists, sourced from trenches, yielded encouraging fine-flake graphite concentrate grades up to 96.4 per cent and recoveries of up to 88 per cent. A conventional multiple grind and flotation concentration flowsheet was used.
The company’s resource upgrade and process testwork will feed into a development scoping study. It will continue to explore its ground for additional graphite deposits to further support a long-life project.
The Kambale deposit was discovered in the 1960s by Russian geologists looking for manganese. Castle reviewed the historical work and a wide-spaced, regional-scale electromagnetic survey dataset inherited from previous licence holder, Newmont Limited. Encouraged by firm graphite prices in 2012, Castle undertook three consecutive phases of drilling to produce its current mineral resource.
Management says graphite is a key component of lithium-ion battery anodes and is not readily substituted, except with synthetic graphite. The global graphite supply issue is projected on expected increases in lithium-ion battery and hydrogen fuel cell production increases.
Graphite content of an electric vehicle is between 30kg and 65kg, with the mineral making up 30 per cent of the lithium-ion battery. Castle says Kambale is well-positioned to participate in the forecasted demand increases and should benefit from expected supply chain disruptions.
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